Temperatures ranged between 43-50°F (6-10C) with a moderate south wind. The long loop means coming in and out via the Sooner Road corridor plus doing the entire lake loop, clockwise today. That new work on the northern end of the lake is now in the final stages. What you see in the picture is the second layer of three.

This image shows our native green thorns without leaves. They grow in sandy soil, typically nearer the bottom land, never on hilltops. You would be hard pressed to wade through those without losing clothing and skin.

I recall seeing a huge washout area just east of the road on the eastern side of the lake, and a little south of SE 89th. You can spot the lip of this thing from the road, but on satellite view you can see it’s pretty large. What you cannot tell until you get off the road and look it is just how deep it is. The first view is leftward (downstream) and the other is the opposite end. Were I to try stepping down into this thing, the initial drop would be about a meter, so adjust your visual scaling reference.

It felt a little cool today. I didn’t need the windproof boots, but I still wore sweat pants. I covered my torso with a long-sleeved t-shirt topped by a heavy sweatshirt that is tightly woven and resists wind rather well. It was actually a bit much by the time I turned back out of the wind when crossing the dam. The ride turned out to be around 32 miles and was a superb test of the new tires. I was able to finish the ride with a good amount of energy left, so I’m no longer fighting quite as much motion entropy as with the knobbies. I suppose it’s not quite as “fast” as the hybrid I used to ride, but it’s more reliable and still goes off-road decently.